A troubled homeless man who pleaded with a judge to be put behind bars last week has appeared in court again for begging outside of Greggs.

The Gazette reported last week how Bradley Grimes had turned up to Teesside Crown Court a day early to be sentenced for breaching the terms of a suspended sentence by flouting an ASBO.

He asked the Recorder of Middlesbrough Simon Bourne-Arton QC to be put in jail until he’s sentenced on Monday, October 9 - because he doesn’t have a home to go to.

A social worker who knows him well said on Friday: “His is a very sad case, but there is no easy solution.

“At least in prison he will wake up on his birthday somewhere warm and he will be fed.”

From custody, Grimes appeared via video link at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Monday October 2 - his 23rd birthday - in connection with another breach of an ASBO, imposed because of his chaotic lifestyle.

That related to Grimes allegedly begging on the stretch of Linthorpe Road outside Greggs and Heron, in Linthorpe Village, on September 1. He did not enter a plea to the charge, which will next be heard at Teesside Crown Court on October 16.

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At the separate hearing at Crown Court last Friday, Aisha Wadoodi, defending Grimes - of no fixed address - explained that he wanted to go to prison as he “finds himself in an impossible situation in that he has no home”.

“He has been in care homes since he’s was seven and he has fallen through the care system,” said Ms Wadoodi.

“The suspended sentence is for a knife offence, and two breaches of ASBO - he has been sleeping in doorways of shops.”

The court heard on that day that Grimes had spent six months bedding down in shop doorways in Middlesbrough town centre.

He had spent years in care, was diagnosed as Autistic, and was found to have a brain tumour.